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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Yesterday I shared our updated closet, and before the fam started tossing their goodies into those amazing new drawers, I wanted to do something a bit special.

I use pretty papers and drawer liners with majority of my organizing projects, which spurs a constant stream of question on the topic. So I thought I would touch on those items briefly in this week's Quick Tip Tuesday!

WHERE DO YOU FIND PRETTY DRAWER LINER?

Everywhere! Amazon has a pretty selection of MacBeth Collection patterns, which I also occasionally spot at HomeGoods/Marshalls. I am still loving and using my marble contact paper frequently for all sorts of projects, and even the dollar store has come through at times. Michaels and Target occasionally sell small rolls for around a dollar or two in their hot spot bins. And I recently discovered Chic Shelf Paper and can't wait to try out a few of their playful patterns in my kitchen. If I can't find exactly what I am looking for, I make some! More on that in a moment.

It really depends. If I am doing something that won't receive a lot of wear and tear, I just go with straight gift wrap or decorative scrapbook paper. A quick lining of a tray, covering a pretty box, junk drawer organizers, etc... If something will be in contact with anything wet or is in need of an occasional cleaning, I opt for shelf liner. Typically shelf liner is my jelly jam for kitchen/bathroom cabinets and drawers or to cover storage boxes that will receive a lot of love.

When we installed the coat closet system, each drawer was added to act as a catch-all drawer for each family member. They will hold a variety of seasonal items and see a lot of action. Some things may even be damp, such as hats, mittens, water bottles, etc...

I wanted to line the drawers, but instead of using any of the drawer liner I had on hand, my attention was on some gorgeous, floral gift wrap that has been making my heart turn into a dancing gazelle since seeing it in Aniko's contributor post. And a huge shout out to my dear friend for picking up the gift wrap from Target for me, since I am still on a Target break.

However, as I mentioned above, wrapping paper does not make good drawer liner in high traffic drawers. Quick fix? Clear contact paper!

To use any wrapping paper that you love as drawer liner in any climate or room, simply add clear contact paper to the top. Drawer protection with a wipe-ability factor!

To get started, I took measurements of the interior of the drawers.

I found it was really helpful to use an over-sized cutting mat to make my cuts and work with the gift wrap/adhesive contact paper. I also used a craft knife (a rotary tool also works great) and a straight edge ruler.

I tried this process two ways and both seemed to work just as well. First way was to simply place the contact paper over the top of a strip of gift wrap, affixing it to the cutting mat to hold it in place while I unrolled it over the paper.

Once the paper was covered, I measured and sliced it down to the correct size with my craft knife and straight edge. I did find that my craft knife cut the paper better with the contact paper over the top first. When I tried it the second way by pre-cutting/measuring the gift wrap first and then adding the paper over the top second, the gift wrap would occasionally catch on the knife.

And that is it! Simple as can be. I left a small bit of the clear contact paper on each edge of the gift wrap, to offer a small bit of grip to the bottom/edges of the drawers and to prevent any paper wiggling.

I mean seriously, how pretty are those drawers now?! I am GUSHING!

As far as organizing them? I am not doing much. I know, the horror! But seriously, the goal for the drawers is to act as little clutter catchers that conceal daily messes. I fully expect my kids to just open them up, toss in their contents, and move on with their day. Heck, I will be doing the same.

(if you are looking for DIY drawer organizers, I have shared my favorite ways to whip some up here and here)

In my drawer, I am keeping things like my small clutch, sunglasses, keys, a reusable shopping bag, sunscreen, mini tape measure and water bottle (which I did place in a drawer organizer to prevent it from rolling around). My gloves would normally be tossed into the mix, but they were the vehicle my husband took to work today. Basically anything that I use each day when I am on the run.

The boys will use the drawers to hold their hats and mittens, baseball caps, water bottles, lunch totes, etc... I also put together our pet's drawer to hold some of their personal care items (leashes live on hooks in our garage).

Quick, easy and fabulous. That is how I turn beautiful gift wrap into beautiful, cleanable drawer liner!

My comment was in line with Alise's comment - about floral paper for the boys' drawers... I like your response Jen! This is great - and imagine my "horror" that you weren't going to organize the drawer contents! Then I saw that you did organize your drawer.

Ha! I am sure if I were to mention use of flowers in any of their personal spaces, it wouldn't go over so smoothly, but in our main living areas, they are use to touches of floral whether a pillow or decorative box or piece of art, completely doesn't phase them. :)

I have used wrapping paper to line drawers as well but rather than Contact Paper, my favorite thing to do is take them down to my local teaching supply store and have it laminated. This protects it on both sides and it will last forever! It also wipes clean very easily!

I love the idea of using the wrapping paper for the drawer liners. I don't understand how you adhere the paper to the drawer. Do you leave a strip in the back to adhere it to the drawer from the contact paper? Wish there was a better visual for this step.

I placed the contact paper over the gift wrap with enough contact paper overlapping all edges of the wrap. This allowed me to leave a small sliver of the sticky contact paper around each edge, which helped to hold the paper in place within the drawer.

I'm so glad to be with people "like me". I wanted to decorate our ensuite drawers with some pretty gift wrap paper I had lying around so I went off to the newagency to get contact paper. Firstly, it seems it only exists at "back to school time" and secondly, the worker looked at me like I was utterly INSANE when I told her what I wanted it for...

Love it! Several gift wrapping paper designs really caught my eye at Paper Source a few years ago, and I've used them as wall art ever since. One of them is just a blue & white polka dot piece, but I love the navy color so much that I purchased a third to use in my college bedroom. There are 2 hanging on the walls in my fairly minimal bedroom which I find adds a playful & feminine touch. One is against my closet door because the off-white color frustrated me but as a nomadic apt renter I don't have the desire to do a painting job.

The inside of the drawers in my bathroom have a beige floral print that I don't like. It'd be so refreshing to see a different design when reaching for tools I use every day. Thanks!

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